Led by Jake Duncan’s 21 points and eight rebounds, round one of the annual vacation basketball series went to the Monticello Buckaroos, as the Bucks triumphed over the San Juan Broncos in basketball in Monticello on December 21, 71-61.

San Juan led only once, at 3-2 just two minutes into the game, when Barkley Christensen, who finished with 19 points, was fouled on a trey attempt and made all three.

On the back of seven first quarter Bronco turnovers, the Bucks raced to a 20-13 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, however, the Broncos upped their defensive intensity, forcing the Bucks into eight turnovers. With Christensen hitting two treys and Cole Einerson and Bobby Bowring each hitting a trey, the Broncos closed to within 38-35 at halftime of the highly entertaining game.

But that was as close as they would get. Tanner Eardley came off the Buckaroo bench with two treys in an explosive third quarter for the Bucks. They pushed the lead to 58-45 with just seconds left in the quarter. The Broncos managed to score four points to end the quarter with the Bucks up by nine, 58-49.

Buckaroo Dillon Maughan found the hot hand in the fourth quarter, hitting three treys in the quarter, and the lead ballooned to 70-54 with just three minutes left.

The Bucks only managed one point the rest of the way as they worked the clock and the Broncos scored the last seven points to make the final score, 71-61.

Three Buckaroos hit double figures. Besides Duncan’s 21, Gunnar Hollingsworth scored 15, and Maughan had 10. Austin Maloy had nine points, six rebounds, three steals and five assists in a great all-around game.

The Broncos were led by Christensen’s 19, including three treys, Logan Meyer’s 13, and Cole Einerson’s ten with two treys. Bobby Bowring hit two treys on the way to nine points.

Round two, which will be in Blanding on Friday January 4, promises to entertain.

GirlsLady Bronco and Buckaroo gals faced off in their version of the holiday series with the San Juaners coming out on top, 48-41.

Monticello jumped to an early 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Broncos defense stiffened in the second stanza as they held the Bucks to just four points while scoring 10 themselves to take a 17-14 halftime lead. The game see-sawed in the second half before the Broncos put the game away in the fourth quarter.

Much of the scoring for the Broncos came from the inside as Natalie Flavel, Tatianna Sue Sue, and Sam Giddings combined for 38 of the 48 Bronco points with Flavel and Sue Sue scoring 14 each and Giddings ten.

On Thursday night, the Lady Buckaroos traveled to Dove Creek for a rematch with the Lady Bulldogs only to fall by a score of 30-27 to move their season record to 4-5.

Zoe Chadwick again led the Bucks in scoring with 12 points.

San Juan pushed their record to 5-2 with a 74-66 win over Whitehorse. The Bronc inside game was evident with Brooke Lyman, Sam Giddings and Tatianna Sue Sue all scoring in double figures and grabbing double figures in rebounding too.

Lyman scored 20 and had 12 rebounds, Giddings was 17 and 13 and Sue Sue had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Back to BoysBoth Monticello (6-1) and San Juan ( 6-4) were 1-1 on the week . San Juan beat Aztec, NM handily on Thursday night in Blanding, 66-49. Ten Broncos scored in the lopsided win led by Christensen’s 19 and Meyer’s 17. The Broncos used a 22-5 run in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.

Monticello traveled to Moab to face the Red Devils on Tuesday, coming out on the losing end of a 63-55 score and their first loss of the year.

The much taller Red Devils jumped on the Buckaroos early, forcing Monticello to play catch-up the entire game. Austin Maloy was the Buckaroo leading scorer with 17 points, followed by Collin Hatch with 14 points and Jake Duncan 13.

After getting that 20-13 first quarter lead the two teams played even the rest of the way but the Bucks could never get the lead.

The San Juan Record welcomes comments on our stories. Please be civil, respectful, focused and humane. Postings are not edited and are the responsibility of the author. You agree not to post comments that are abusive, threatening or obscene. Postings may be removed at the discretion of sjrnews.com